Emile Durkheim’s Sociological Theory: Key Concepts

emile durkheim sociological theory key concepts at the core of emil durkheim's sociological theory is the idea of social cohesion as a functionalist sociologist durkheim is concerned about social cohesion or social solidarity according to durkheim social cohesion comes from a core institutionalized values that are held in common thus anami that is the lack of norms of behavior feelings of alienation and social conflict which are some of the central concepts in emil durkheim sociological theory are seen as social pathologies let me briefly discuss the key concepts of durkheim sociological theory i will begin with the concepts of

collective conscience religion and mechanical solidarity according to durkheim collective conscience and religion are crucial to social cohesion this is because first collective conscience understood as beliefs and sentiments that are shared in common by members of a society creates common condition of existence and religion is the main form of collective conscience which according to durkheim imposes a uniformity of beliefs and actions however it is important to note that durkheim argues that collective conscience expressed in religious beliefs and reinforced by ceremony which eventually brings people in solidarity is true only to small-scale societies for example tribal societies

durkheim calls the kind of solidarity that we can find in small-scale societies mechanical as we may already know for durkheim mechanical solidarity implies the similarity of individuals living in a society in other words in a society held together by mechanical solidarity members share the same basic beliefs about the world and about life which are essentially based on religion and engage in the same basic social and economic activities such as hunting and gathering these basic beliefs and values constitute what durkheim calls collective conscience for durkheim collective conscience which is understood as the totality of beliefs and

values is a determinate system with a life of its own because collective conscience is understood more as norms of society this system causes the individuals to cooperate with each other or abide by the laws of the society but it must be remembered that collective conscience is not a social structure but is a form of solidarity found in small-scale societies now as we can see advanced societies moved away from this type of solidarity which results in the weakening of the hold of collective conscience however for durkheim the paradox of modern societies is that as they become

more individualized so they become more integrated thus durkheim did not view modernization as the cause of the disintegration of the old society as a matter of fact as already hinted about modernization has ushered in a new type of solidarity and for durkheim this is made possible through the concept of the division of labour on division of labour and organic solidarity as already hinted above the organization of society into tribes corresponds to what durkheim calls the segmental structure of mechanical solidarity here a society is made of small groups or segments organized into tribes with close proximity

to one another and where the division of labor is along domestic lines as we can see there is little division of labor in a society held together by mechanical solidarity now as societies become more advanced the segments turned into organs with more specialized functions also advanced societies are now characterized by industrialization and increased division of labor these highly complex and organized societies therefore as durkheim would have us believe are no longer held together by mechanical solidarity but by organic solidarity the collective conscience may have remained but become less and less important as the type of

solidarity that hold these societies together now comes from occupation rather than kinship and social interactions are now based on contracts with this durkheim argues that organic solidarity bases itself on a more specialized form of social interactions with the individuals linked more to each other rather than to society as a whole as we can see the shift from mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity has led to the idea of system integration in contra distinction to social integration in social integration individuals or groups come together or integrated into the mainstream society and they are integrated because they share

common beliefs and values in system integration the society has become more advanced and complex and the division of labor has become high organized through the markets the state and so on in system integration individuals are integrated through the roles that they played in the society indeed it is here that the notion of the division of labor comes in in fact according to durkheim the division of labour in advanced societies makes individuals more reliant on each other and in particular on the economic functions that different people perform this is indeed the paradox of the modern society

held together by organic solidarity as ian craig rightly puts it the paradox of organic solidarity based on the division of labor is that members of society become both more individuated and more dependent on society at the same time more individuated because in modern societies people fulfill many different social roles behave differently in those roles and work with different specialized bodies of knowledge beliefs and knowledge shared by the whole community are no longer sufficient to enable each individual to fulfill his or her task we become more dependent on everybody else fulfilling their tasks vitally dependent if

i were a member of a hunter-gatherer society i could go off by myself for long periods of time looking for food finding my own shelter and so on in contemporary society i am dependent on other people many of whom live on the other side of the world to grow my food make my clothes supply me with warmth and light print the books that i read service the word processor i write on and so on i could have or done none of these things without society on law state and social cohesion because social bonds become more

like contracts in modern societies law therefore is necessary according to durkheim for durkheim law is important for social cohesion because law reproduces the principal form of social solidarity two kinds of law for durkheim penal and restitutive according to durkheim penal law is based on repressive sanctions which predominates in less advanced societies the origin of penal law is religion and it serves to maintain collective sentiments in order to preserve social cohesion thus as durkheim argues punishment's true function is to maintain social cohesion intact while maintaining all its vitality in the collective conscience restitutive law on the

other hand is based on restitutive sanctions which predominates in modern or more advanced societies the origin of restitutive law according to durkheim are contracts which bind people together in solidarity and for durkheim the true function of contractual laws is not to inflict harm in order to maintain social cohesion but to return things to their normal state and to re-establish what has been disturbed as we can see organic societies are restitutive rather than repressive and aim not so much to punish but to secure compensation for damage now in terms of crises which threaten social cohesion durkheim

emphasizes the role of the state in maintaining social cohesion through its regulative powers thus for durkheim it is the state that can ultimately promote and maintain social cohesion especially in more advanced societies durkheim provided three important reasons why it is the state that can promote and maintain social cohesion in more advanced societies first the state ensures justice and offers protection to the individual second the state preserves social unity out of diversity especially of the function brought about by increasing division of labor and third the state whose primary concern is policy making law and government interacts

with the rest of society ensuring that society becomes more consciously directed as opposed to being the product of unthinking custom and tradition